Bhikshuni Heng Je’s conditions led
her to Dharma Realm Buddhist Book Distribution Society in Taipei when
it was still housed on the top floor of an apartment building with only
walk-up access. Still a laywoman then, with the Dharma name Guo Ming,
she joined the crew of devoted volunteers in 1989 and soon became a
dedicated member of the administrative staff. She helped see the
Society through its move to a larger facility with elevator-access and
there contributed her diverse skills in serving the Society in its
propagation of the publications of the Buddhist Text Translation
Society.

In the early 1991, after helping
with several delegations to Taiwan led by the Venerable Master, Guo
Ming came to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, left the home-life, and
became a fully ordained Bhikshuni. At the City she did various jobs,
including caring for the elderly. Later Bhikshuni Heng Je joined the
Vajra Bodhi Sea staff and moved to the International Translation
Institute in Burlingame. Holding a bachelor’s in English, Bhikshuni
Heng Je worked for both the monthly journal and for the Buddhist Text
Translation Society as a transcriber and translator. In l994 she was
appointed to the Association’s Visa Department and, bringing forth the
resolve to help in whatever way she could, she moved to Gold Mountain
Monastery to carry on that work.

As one of the resident Sangha at
Gold Mountain Monastery, she is a responsible and dependable
participant in the daily practices and special ceremonies. She has made
vows to do all she can to help introduce Buddhism to Westerners, and
based on that intent, she is often invited to speak at schools and
universities.

Bhikshuni Heng Je chose to
translate the Compassionate Samadhi Water Repentance text for her
thesis leading to an M.A. in Translation at the Dharma Realm Buddhist
University. She especially studies the Shurangama Sutra and is helping
to translate the verse explanations by the Venerable Master of the
lines of the Shurangama Mantra. As a participant in Gold Mountain
Monastery’s on-going Earth Store Assembly, she shares enthusiastically
in the study and recitation of the three Sutras devoted to Earth Store
Bodhisattva: The Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva, The
Ten Wheels of Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra, and The Sutra for Divining
Good and Evil Karmic Retributions. She is also currently lecturing on
The Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva.